BOSTON, Dec. 15, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- As we look to the new year and the resolutions we can make to improve our lives and the lives of others, Beacon Health Options (Beacon) urges you to resolve to break the silence and stamp out the stigma around mental illnesses. Talk about it; your story could change a life.
Today, Beacon, the nation's premier behavioral health management company, will ask New Yorkers and those visiting the "Big Apple" to make mental health awareness their 2016 New Year's resolution. A 23-story digital billboard in New York City's Times Square will remind them about the importance of talking about mental illness as a means to stamp out stigma.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, one in five U.S. adults will be affected by a mental illness in a given year, approximately 43.8 million Americans. Factoring in family, friends and colleagues, all of us are affected by mental illness in some way. Unfortunately, the reality is that approximately 30 percent of people living with mental illness say they choose not to seek treatment due to fear of judgment. The good news is that mental illness is treatable.
"You wouldn't necessarily know the high prevalence of mental illness in the U.S. because we rarely talk about mental health in public," said Dr. Jorge Petit, a psychiatrist and Beacon Senior Vice President, National Client Partnerships – New York Region. "Like diabetes, heart disease or high blood pressure, mental illness is a medical condition that requires care; yet because of the stigma that a mental illness diagnosis carries, we have made it something that is easier to hide than to seek treatment. And that needs to change."
In 2013, ValueOptions, before it merged with Beacon Health Strategies to become Beacon Health Options, took its first step to do just that when the company launched its Stamp Out Stigma initiative. Now spearheaded by the Association for Behavioral Health and Wellness, in which Beacon is a member, the initiative continues work to reduce the stigma surrounding mental illness and substance use disorders. This campaign challenges each of us to transform the dialogue on mental health and substance use disorder from a whisper to a
More recently, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and First Lady Chirlane McCray launched ThriveNYC: A Mental Health Roadmap for All, an action plan to guide the city toward a more effective and holistic system to support the mental wellbeing of New Yorkers. One of the program's principles is to change the culture by making mental health everybody's business and promoting open conversation about it.
What can you do in 2016 to help bring mental illness out behind closed doors and into the public space?
About Beacon Health Options
Beacon Health Options is a health improvement company that serves 48 million individuals across all 50 states and the United Kingdom. On behalf of employers, health plans and government agencies, we manage innovative programs and solutions that directly address the challenges our behavioral health care system faces today. Beacon is a national leader in the fields of mental and emotional wellbeing, addiction, recovery and resilience, employee assistance, and wellness. We help people make the difficult life changes needed to be healthier and more productive. Partnering with a network of providers nationwide, we help individuals live their lives to the fullest potential. For more information, visit www.beaconhealthoptions.com and connect with us on www.facebook.com/beaconhealthoptions.
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SOURCE Beacon Health Options
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